20161209-1st Khutba- Imam Dawood Yasin

Opening Praise and Salutations

Inna alhamdulillah, nahmadahu wa nast'a'inahu wa nastaghfiruhu wa na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina wa min sayyi'ati a'malina. May yahdihillahu fa la mudilla lah, wa may yudlil fa la hadiya lah. Wa ashhadu an la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ashhadu anna sayyidina wa habibina mawlana sayyidina Muhammad abduhu wa rasuluh, khayrun nabiyyi ijtabah, wa hudan lil'alamin arsalah. Arsalahu Allahu bi deenil haqqi li yudhhirahu 'ala ddeeni kullihi wa law kariha alkafirun. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik 'ala sayyidina wa habibina mawlana sayyidina Muhammad wa 'ala alihi wa azwajihi wa dhurriyyatihi wa ashabihi wa tabi'in bi ihsanin ila yawm al-deen. Amma ba'd.

'Ibadallah, uzakkirkum iyyaya bi taqwallahi subhanahu wa ta'ala. Uzakkirkum bi qawlihi subhanahu wa ta'ala, haythu yaqulu fi al-Qur'an al-Kareem:

Uzakkirkum iyyaya bi hifdhil Qur'an al-Kareem wa sunnati sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Alhamdulillah alladhi ahyana ba'da ma amatana wa ilayhi al-nushur.

Gratitude for the Gift of Life

We thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for this bounty that He has blessed us with and bestowed us with — that He has given us the ability to live another day. How many went to sleep last night with aspirations of what they would do this morning, but did not wake up today? Think about that for a moment.

If you were to enumerate the bounties of your Lord, you would not be able to enumerate them. Alhamdulillah — Allah gave us life this day. Allah gave us life on this Jumu'ah. And as we understand, the one who honors Jumu'ah from Jumu'ah to Jumu'ah, then no sin will afflict him during that time. Alhamdulillah — for the one that gave us the ability that with every step taken to the masjid, as we made wudu in our homes, every step a sin is forgiven and a darajat is given in the akhirah. Some of the scholars have said that this even works with the rotation of the tire. May Allah accept it, ameen.

The Story of the Shepherd and Ibn 'Umar

Brothers and sisters, one of the things I want to start off this khutbah talking about is a story narrated by Ibn al-Khattab — I'm sorry — to his son, Ibn 'Umar, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala be pleased with him and his father. It is said that he was traveling and he was on the outskirts of Mecca, and he decided to test a young man who was a shepherd. He came to this young man and said, "Will you sell me one of these sheep?" The young man said, "I cannot sell you the sheep." He asked him why. He said, "Because these sheep belong to my master." He said, "Well, where is your master?" He said, "My master is in another place taking care of business, and he asked me to watch over his flock."

So Ibn 'Umar was testing him. He said, "Well, if you sell me the sheep, it is a winning situation for you. It's beneficial for you, it is beneficial for me. You receive the money — that's beneficial for you. I receive a sheep — that's beneficial for me. And we tell your master that a wolf ate the sheep, and he is none the wiser."

So the young man raised his head and looked at Ibn 'Umar and said: "Where is Allah in this business transaction? My master might not be here, but Allah is here. My master may not witness this, but Allah witnesses this. My master might not know what happened to his sheep, but Allah knows what happened to his sheep. So where is Allah in this business transaction?"

It is narrated that Ibn 'Umar began to weep. There are many examples that we can take from this. This is just — as we would say — a layman, an average person, a shepherd. But when that taqwa, that consciousness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, enters the heart, it doesn't matter what is a person's rank, it doesn't matter what is a person's status. What matters is that they have cultivated taqwa of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — this consciousness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — in their hearts.

Understanding Taqwa

Taqwa is an interesting word, because it comes from waqa, which means to ward off a blow, to defend oneself. So the scholars of the inner sciences say that your taqwa is to ward off the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And how do you ward off the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? By removing those things which are displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So that is having the consciousness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala whether we are around people or by ourselves — which then brings us to ikhlas.

So let's take a moment and ask ourselves this question: Where is Allah in my consciousness? Where is Allah in my heart? Where is Allah when I am making decisions that might involve the trust that I owe someone else? Where is Allah?

I can't tell you how many times I've had people come and ask, "Can you arbitrate between us?" because some sort of business transaction has gone sour. I asked, "Did you write a contract between the two of you?" "We did not." The longest verse in the Qur'an is about contractual relationships. But the fact that we are Muslim should be enough — shouldn't it be? Only if we lived in a perfect world with perfect iman. But there are other realities that come into play, and that's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sets these things up. But when there is consciousness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at all stages, then you have the response of this young man: it doesn't matter what type of benefit I'm going to get — if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not pleased with me, it is of no value to me. What value is something that would bring the displeasure of my Creator? What value is something that would be a means to bring me to the Hellfire on Yawm al-Qiyamah?

That's having consciousness in every single breath that we take, in every word that we say — to our children, to our spouse, to our friends, to whomever — that we are conscious of what we are doing. That's the reality. Because none of us are going to escape that ultimate reality when we're going to be asked about it. And that's what mas'uliyyah is in our tradition — mas'uliyyah, mas'ul from sa'ala, to be asked — because every single one of us is going to be asked.

Social and Political Consciousness vs. Consciousness of Allah

One of the sad realities in our time is that we work hard to cultivate social consciousness. Social consciousness is very important and we strive to cultivate it. We work hard to cultivate political consciousness — as we just ended this election season, how much work and how much effort went in to cultivate political consciousness. We study the work of scholars and listen to their lectures and try to implement the things that they talk about, all in the attempt to bring about a political consciousness. And yes, these things are important — I'm not trying to belittle them in any way. But ask ourselves: how hard do we work to cultivate a consciousness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? How hard do we work?

Ibn 'Ata'illah on the Sickness of the Heart

Ibn 'Ata'illah — may Allah have mercy on him — said something very incredible. He said: I am astonished by a person that when they are afflicted with a malady in their eye, they rush to have it looked after and taken care of — because of all the beauties they would miss: being able to see their children, being able to see their spouse, being able to look at a beautiful sunset, all the other beauties that come through the eye. He said: I am astonished that that same person who has maladies in their heart for 40 years does not take an effort to cure that heart.

What is lost if we lose our eyesight? And what is lost if we have a heart that does not have consciousness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? We hear it all the time: "Make du'a for so-and-so, they are sick." Are we making du'a for so-and-so because they are sick and filled with gheebah? Because they are sick and filled with backbiting? Because they are sick and filled with lying? Because they are sick and filled with all of the maladies that are internal to us — that cause what we're seeing externally — because that consciousness is not there? And when a believer does not have the consciousness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, everything else collapses.

The First Commandment of the Qur'an

The first commandment in chronological order of the Qur'an, in the order that has been arranged:

O humanity! It's amazing — Allah is addressing يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ and not just believers, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا. He's saying يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ — O mankind! Male and female, rich and poor, black and white, whoever you are. Worship your Lord, who has created you and created those who came before you — and what is the purpose of that? La'allakum tattaqun — so that you may have taqwa.

And Allah tells us about the prayer:

That this prayer has a purpose — its purpose is to protect us from lewdness and other things. Having this consciousness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala: how is it that I will act one way when I'm in my prayer and act another way when I'm outside of my prayer? Or act one way when I'm with a certain group of people but act another way when I'm with another group of people? Because I want you to think of me in a different manner — perhaps in a positive light — yet when I have an opportunity to take a benefit for myself, I'm looking for every means to take that benefit to myself, irrespective of the outcomes.

Why? Because as was said, when the consciousness is not established in our hearts, then everything else around us will collapse. And we know the answer to this. There's no need for us to continue searching and asking why.

Worship Requires Awareness

This worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, as we're talking about, requires awareness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that's why we stated: Fa-ayna Allah? — "Where is Allah?" Because if it's just some sort of ritualistic motion... When I took my shahada, there was an older man — may Allah have mercy on him — his name was Chodabai, in South Africa. He said, "Dawud, don't pray the salat of a chicken." I said, "What is the salat of a chicken?" He said: "Up, down, kiss the ground, out of town." No consciousness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

What does it actually mean to me when I raise my hands and I say Allahu Akbar! What does that mean to me in my life? What does it mean to me when I leave that salat and return back to my job, or return back to my other responsibilities? That it carries over from that time, in everything that I do, in every breath that I will take, in every blinking of my eye. That's the consciousness that we want to be working towards. Because that is what people will be attracted to, and that's what people will see — that will make you different as a human being as you walk on this earth. That's the distinguishing factor.

We can continue to compete in wealth, we can continue to compete in political status, we can continue to compete in whatever it is — but there will always be someone with more than you. The Prophet ﷺ said in his Farewell Sermon:

(Musnad Imam Ahmad, Hadith 23489; narrated in the Farewell Sermon)

That there is no higher ranking of the Arab over the non-Arab, or the non-Arab over the Arab, or the white over the black, or the black over the white — except for taqwa. And only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can judge that. Only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows what that is. It's not about intellectual capacity — it's about the capacity for this heart, this consciousness, to be cultivated and brought forward to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is nowhere in our equation, then our servitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is nowhere. It's about fundamentals at this moment, in my opinion. To go back to these basics — because we are far away from these basics — and we're ready to jump on anyone else's bandwagon, uncritically, without assessing the nature of that movement in light of Islam. This is about Muslims looking to engage and be accepted and be a part of and participate in things which are the antithesis of you being a Muslim. Why does that happen? Because we don't think that we have something to offer to people.

Standing Rock and the Lesson of Prayerful Protest

During the Thanksgiving break, I took a group of my students, and I asked Imam Khalid Latif — who many of you may know from NYU — to bring a group of his students. And we went to Standing Rock in North Dakota. We joined in there. And I joined in because the call that the Lakota Sioux had put out to people was: join us in prayerful protest.

Occupy Wall Street didn't ask to join in prayerful protest. The Black Lives Matter movement is not asking you to join in prayerful protest. That's dealing on a material plane where the divine is not a part of the program, the protest. The Lakota Sioux offered their prayers every day, unapologetically. And thousands of people joined with them who were not Lakota Sioux.

So I asked my students: do you think that as Muslims, we could galvanize, we could rally people, we could bring people together to join us in a cause that is ours — which, yes, addresses the things politically, or addresses the things socially, or addresses the things in whatever sphere it is — but is based on, predicated on, a foundation that is based on the worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala first and foremost?

Because if you want to engage this system materially, you're fighting against a system that your Prophet ﷺ has described as being their Jannah. How would you fight for your Jannah? What means would you go to if your Jannah was to be taken away from you? That's the same reality — that is the same light through which you have to see what is happening here. And if you want to engage materially, then you can see the outcomes that we have been seeing over and over and over again.

The Statement of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab

And what I said to my students was this. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said:

(Narrated by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, and attributed to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab)

We are a people that Allah has honored, that Allah has dignified through Islam. And whoever seeks that honor and dignity and status outside of the means of Islam, then they will be debased. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what's going on. It's all about placards and rallies, it's all about getting a voting bloc, it's all about all of these things — devoid from and divorced from having a similar type of calling on Allah. Then we'll continue to have the outcomes that we have. And we should be embarrassed to ask why, as a believer. We should be embarrassed to ask why. This is a manifestation of Allah leaving us to ourselves.

Tahqiq al-'Ubudiyyah — Actualizing Our Servitude

One of the things that we have to think about is this idea which is called tahqiq al-'ubudiyyah — actualizing our servitude to Allah. Actualizing in our life, in our heart, the reality and the fact that we are servants to Allah. And the most perfect human being ﷺ actualized this reality more than anyone else, and so Allah honors him. And when Allah talks about him, He took him to a place where no other human being had been taken — talking about the Isra' and Mi'raj. And how does He describe that?

Look at the term I want to highlight here. He says: Glorified is He who has taken His 'abd — His servant. So this is about our servitude. And He honors him by saying it again:

So this idea that I am a servant to Allah first and foremost — and all of those things that will happen otherwise come out of my understanding and my commitment to my servitude to Allah.

I asked my students when we were there: have any of you in sujood been calling on Allah to end this pipeline, if you see that it is not beneficial? But then also having the other side — to say that we are not people who can claim there is some sort of loss if this thing happens. Because why? The qadr is with Allah. Whatever Allah decrees, it is from a hikmah that He knows, subhanahu wa ta'ala. It is from a hikmah that He knows.

Reflections on the Election and Du'a

I've been thinking about this election. I thought about one thing in two ways. How many of us make this du'a:

"Oh Allah, do not place an authority over us because of our sins — someone who does not fear You and will not have mercy on us."

So I asked about this. I thought of two things. One: that either the president-elect is not that person. Or two: that we make du'as and our du'as are not answered. And if our du'as are not answered, we have a whole laundry list we can go through of why our du'as are not answered. So we have to ask ourselves some real, hard, tough questions.

And then it made me think: for Musa there is Fir'awn; for Ibrahim there is Nimrod; for the Prophet ﷺ there is Abu Lahab — for a hikmah that only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows. And look at the outcome of all of those situations. Allah is Al-Hakeem, Al-'Aleem, Al-Khabeer. The question is: do we trust that?

Closing: Cementing Our Servitude

Alhamdulillah, brothers and sisters. Our servitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is that we cement ourselves to the divine command — its sweetness and its bitterness. That's a reality. That's the reality of the world that we live in. That's why I find it interesting that when there is an attempt in this world to rid it of the things that are harmful to us — yes, we'd like to see a better world — but this is not that place. This is not that place.

So this idea of trusting in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — sharing with you here — not being people that, if we perceive that this world is falling down around us, become people who are saying, "Why is this happening to us?" I get that. People are asking, "Why is this happening to us? Aren't we Allah's servants? Aren't we supposed to be promised all these things?" The answer is yes — and absolutely this is the way it's supposed to be happening. For a hikmah that only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows.

Look at this example: when we haven't actualized the reality of what it means to be the servant of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then these are the types of things that happen, these are the questions that are asked. When the Prophet ﷺ — when his world, if you will, was collapsing around him — and he's being stoned and ridiculed in Ta'if, when the children were unleashed against him, spitting on him, stoning him, and his sandals were filled with blood — what did he say to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?

"Oh Allah, if this is not a sign of Your displeasure, then I don't care." If all of this is happening to me, ya Allah, and there are presidents and all of these things that may happen — we have no idea if any of this will — if anything of this happens and You are pleased with me, ya Allah, I could care less. But if we're scared of some of our dunya being taken away from us, if we're afraid of some of these realities that may happen, then it's going to be a different reality.

But it's not ours from the beginning. That's where we've tricked ourselves. It's not ours from the beginning. It's Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's — it's all that He has honored us with.

And if we show gratitude, that increase may be in a connection to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — greater and stronger.

That's the example of the Prophet ﷺ, born in this month. And we hear the seerah and the mawlid and all these other things that are happening in this month — but it's about reflecting on these realities and how we can put them into our lives. If this is happening to me and it is not a sign of Your displeasure, فَلَا أُبَالِي — then I don't care. And I'll take it, as long as I remain pleasing to You, as long as I'm still in Your loving gaze, as long as my relationship with You has not been diminished — then I don't mind what the world heaps upon me. I don't mind what the world heaps upon me, if I still have my relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Fajr is still Fajr. Dhuhr is still Dhuhr. Asr is still Asr. Maghrib is still Maghrib. Isha is still Isha. We still have to make Hajj, we still have to fast in Ramadan, we still have to pay our zakat — no one is taking that away from us. No one is taking that away from us.